The weight
by donteatmysocks
Summary: Ash's father died when he was young, a fact his family was forced to come to terms with. But when evidence arises that the death wasn't entirely accidental, Ash finds himself caught up in a dark conspiracy full of lies and secrets. He'll find the past is always more dangerous when it is finally brought to light...
1. Home Again

**I'd like to thank my Celestial Evolution for beta-ing and helping me polish this. You were a big help!**

* * *

A weary figure approached the serene three-story residence of Delia Ketchum. At the sight of it, his heart lightened a little, though his steps remained heavy against the dirt road. Freezing winds bit at his exposed arms, and he wished he had thought to wear long sleeves. But it had never crossed his mind, maybe because the humid climate in Hoenn had spoiled him, or maybe because he just wasn't very good at thinking such things through. Personally, he preferred to think it was the first one.

He glanced at the Pikachu on his shoulder. The electric mouse was shivering, too. "Sorry, buddy. I guess I've been away so long, I forgot just how cold it gets in winter here."

"Pika, chu." Pikachu offered a smile to let his trainer know he forgave him. Then he froze. His ears twitched, as if he had heard something familiar. He leaped down to the ground to look at a figure approaching in the distance. "Chu?"

"Hey, Ash! Is that really you?

The thirteen-year old trainer immediately recognized the older girl walking toward him. But then, it was hard to mistake her for anyone else, with her bomabadier jacket and leather biker boots, coupled with her orchid-colored tights and denim skirt. A fashion choice not many other people would attempt in the coldest months of the year.

She smiled at Ash, and he waved in return. "Synthia! How's my big sister doing?"

"Fine, just fine. Good to see you back home. And Pikachu, too," Synthia added, before plucking Ash's Pokemon Federation cap from his head and ruffling his dark hair. "More importantly, guess what I heard?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued. "I heard someone has been accepted into the Johto League Gold Division. You get to compete again!"

"Word travels fast, huh?" Ash snatched his cap back and redonned it. His gaze wandered back to his house. It was covered in lights and wreaths, and the front yard was littered with a variety of decorations. Everything from red-nosed Stantler cutouts to inflatable snowmen. Pikachu was examining a row of plastic candy canes as if he was trying decide whether they were edible or not. "Looks like Mom's been busy. I can't wait to see this stuff when it's all lit up."

"Yeah, she goes overboard every year." Synthia placed her hands on her hips and surveyed the decorations. "But now that you're back, maybe you can get Pikachu to light everything for us. It would save a pretty penny on the electric bill."

"Yeah, it would." Ash started towards the house, motioning for her and Pikachu to follow. "Now can we go inside, before my feet go numb?"

When they entered the cozy dwelling, they were greeted by a round, pink creature that Ash recognized as a Jigglypuff. The bug-eyed creature waved its small arms and exclaimed happily, summoning the household's matriarch to the door. Delia took one look at her son and gasped in surprise.

"Ash? You didn't mention that you were coming home!" She kissed Ash on his forehead and embraced him. "I'm so glad you could make it back for Christmas. I've missed having the whole family together, ever since your father died and you've been traveling..."

"Synthia's here," Ash pointed out, extricating himself from his mother's grasp.

"Not often, with work," Synthia corrected. "My boss doesn't like giving time off. We're only getting about a week for the holidays, starting Monday."

Synthia looked to where Pikachu and Jigglypuff were playing. The Pok mon chased each other into the living room, leaping over furniture and racing around the coffee table. She smiled, then addressed her brother. "So, how long do you get to stay? You know, before you have to head out to Johto for the Gold Conference."

Ash looked between his mother's and sister's cheerful faces. The truth was that he didn't have long; just enough time to spend Christmas with his family and to get the Pok mon he needed from Professor Oak, then it would be straight to Johto. But he couldn't ruin their good moods by saying so. "It will be a little while," he said, then reached for his bag. "By the way, my friend May asked me to give you something."

Ash handed Delia a tin of homemade cookies, prepared by his traveling companion from the Hoenn region. Delia took the offering graciously. "That's so nice of her. Next time you see her, you'll have to thank her for me."

The rest of the evening passed by in a blur of talk and laughter. When night fell, they all went outside to see if Pikachu really could light everything. Much to everyone's delight, a single jolt of electricity was enough to make the house and yard burst into bright color.

When Ash headed up to his bedroom for the night, he didn't go to sleep immediately. He stood in front of the frost-covered window, polishing a pok ball and listening to Pikachu snore from where he was curled up at the foot of the bed. The sheets were crisped and smelled of detergent. Home sweet home, he thought.

"Am I interrupting anything?"

Synthia stood in the doorway in her nightgown and toesocks. "I noticed your light was still on, so I thought I'd check on you. Everything okay?"

"Oh." Ash set the pok ball on his nightstand and sat down on his bed. Pikachu stirred, but didn't wake. "No, everything's fine. I'm just not really tired."

"All right, then. Just checking." Synthia folded her hands behind her back and studied Ash. She giggled.

"What?" Ash gave her a confused look.

She sat down beside him and nudged his shoulder. "Sooo are you and May going steady?"

Ash's eyes widened. "Are we- of course not! She has a boyfriend back in Hoenn named Brendan."

"Liar." Synthia playfully pokes his nose. "You're so silly!"

He looks down at the floor. "I haven't had a girlfriend since Misty and I went our separate ways, after the Silver Conference."

Synthia's expression turned serious. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. Do you miss her?"

"Yeah. A lot. There's this one song- "It Might Be You," by Stephen Bishop- and every time I hear it I think of her. I don't know if I'll ever forget."

"It's rough, trust me. I've been through it. If there's anything I can do, just say the word, okay?"

They sat in silence for a moment. Pikachu rolled over in his sleep, half his body now dangling off the edge of the bed. Ash looked at him, then back at Synthia. "There's something else I've been thinking about."

"What is it?" When Ash hesitated, she added, "Come on, you can tell me."

Finally, he gave in. "Okay. I've been thinking about...Dad. I mean, do you think he knows we're okay? And that we miss him?"

"Of course he does," Synthia said, with full conviction. "I remember how he used to tell us that no matter what happened, he loved us. And that still applies."

"I don't remember him saying that," Ash said. "I don't remember much about him at all."

"You were too little."

"I wish he was still here." A single tear rolled down his cheek. Synthia reached over and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly as he cried.

"I know, little brother," she soothed. "I know."


	2. The Visitor

In a cemetery on the outskirts of Pallet, Gary Oak placed a Christmas wreath at his parents' grave markers. He wanted to say something, but no words came to mind. It was like this every time he visited. Long periods of silence interrupted only by the rattling of branches as wind gusted around nearby trees. Sometimes he wondered if there was even a point in coming out to visit them every month, if he was just going to stand around and listen to the wind. But deep down, he knew he could never convince himself to stop.

Little clumps of snow began to fall around him, and he shivered beneath his jacket. The temperature had dropped several degrees since leaving home, and the light fabric was no longer enough to protect him from the cold. The white-furred, catlike Pokémon beside him didn't seem to mind, though. She sat up on her haunches and batted at the snowflakes with a paw.

"Come here, Snakka," Gary said, scooping her up in his arms. Her species regarded the most severe Kanto winter as little more than a light snowfall, and Gary was hoping he could leech off her body heat before he froze. After all, Snakka were from the Rahol region. It was a fairly mountainous place; not as cold as Sinnoh, but still frigid enough for the native species to be well adapted to chilly weather.

Snakka mewled and squirmed around in his grasp. Just as he feared. She couldn't stand being picked up any more than when he had first gotten her. "Fine, fine," he grumbled, letting her go after she nipped at his gloved fingers. "Glad to know you'd let me die of cold."

"Sna." Snakka turned her nose up at him and stalked away. She meandered through the cemetery, sometimes stopping to sniff a headstone. Gary let her. There were very few people buried here he actually knew, most of them distant relatives who rarely contacted the rest of the family, but still insisted on being put to rest in the Oak Cemetery. Kind of hypocritical, when Gary thought about it.

Another bout of wind buffeted him. Maybe it was time to head back to the lab. He reached for two of his pokéballs. Snakka's, so he could return her, and Fearow's, to fly him home. He started to recall the cat, then stopped. Snakka's gaze was locked on the leaf-bare underbrush, her fur standing on end. She growled.

Something moved. Snakka launched herself at it. Her yowls filled the air, intercepted by high-pitched screams that sent chills down Gary's spine.

He'd never heard a Pokémon that sounded like that.

Gary called out to Snakka and tried to return her. But it was next to impossible to aim at something he couldn't see. He only caught flashes of white behind the brush. And… something else. What_ was _that?

Something cried out in pain. Gary couldn't tell if it was Snakka or not. He released his Umbreon, ordering him to get in there and help. Whatever this thing was, he doubted it could stand up to two Pokémon at once.

Umbreon charged. The rings on his body lit up, bright enough to leave spots dancing in Gary's vision when he didn't look away fast enough.

He wasn't the only one who found it disorienting. Umbreon nudged a dazed but unharmed Snakka out of the brush, then went back for her opponent. He dropped the creature in front of Gary. It twitched, but was too stunned to try to escape.

It didn't resemble any Pokémon Gary ever seen. Patchwork red and yellow in color, it looked like a cross between a bird and a mammal, with four limbs and a set of wings sticking up from its back. Gary wondered if it could fly with them, and if so, why it hadn't flown away when Snakka attacked it. Maybe she had caught it off guard?

Snakka sat nearby, trying to blink away the last of her confusion. She shook her head. Her gaze drifted towards Gary, and the creature he was examining. She snarled and lunged. Before Gary could stop her, she was digging her claws into it and biting down hard.

"Snakka!" Gary yelled at her, "Cut it out! Stop, now!"

It was too late. The creature's breaths were cut short, and it went completely limp. Snakka looked up at Gary, her expression one of pure satisfaction. She clearly didn't see this as any different from the Pidgey and Rattata she often brought home as "gifts." Didn't realize it might have been a new species that would have been best studied _alive_.

Gary sighed. Oh, well. There were still things they could learn about it like this. He returned Snakka and Umbreon, worried that the former might interfere further. He took his jacket off and wrapped it around the creature. The wind stung even more intensely now, but he couldn't risk damage to the specimen. He released Fearow.

"Fly me back home," he said. He glanced back at the cemetery. A thin layer of snow was accumulating. A twinge of shame afflicted him. He hadn't come here for his Pokémon to kill something. "Sorry Mom, Dad," he said. The tombstones stared back silently.

Fearow beat his wings and rose into the sky. Soon, the necropolis faded to a speck in the distance.

Out of sight, out of mind. For a while, at least.

* * *

When he got back to the lab, he handed Professor Oak his jacket. "Snakka found something. I think it's a new species. I wrapped it up so it wouldn't get hurt." Oak didn't get a chance to respond. Gary had already left to find some way to warm himself up.

The Professor found Gary curled up in the couch with a blanket wrapped around him. "Stupid cold," Gary muttered. His teeth chattered.

"I sincerely hope this doesn't affect your health," Oak said. "Flying all this way in the cold, without a jacket..."

Gary didn't answer. Oak took it as a sign to continue. "I heard Ash arrived home today. You know, he's been accepted into the next Johto League division, too."

"Yeah. And this time I'm going to beat him." It had been a little over a year ago that he had lost to his rival, and the defeat still stung more than he cared to admit. "And have you found anything out about that… thing?"

"We'll get to that," Oak said. "First, I have a request. Delia called earlier; Ash is stopping by tomorrow to see his Pokémon. Can you make sure he gets this?" He tossed an envelope at Gary, who just managed to catch it. "I'll be studying that specimen you brought me, and I'm afraid I'll forget to give it to him."

Gary turned it over in his hands. It felt sort of like a book, though he wasn't sure. "What it is?"

"I found it while going through some old papers, and felt he should have it," Oak said, and wouldn't offer any further information. "Now, I need to go wrap up that report I was supposed to write for Regional Geographic. Also, did you want your jacket back? I took the specimen out..."

"That's fine," Gary said quickly. Oak shrugged, then was gone. Gary was left alone with the envelope. It would have been easy enough to open it, check out its contents, then reseal it in an identical envelope, but it was a temptation he was able to resist. Maybe he'd find out tomorrow.

He tossed the envelope on the coffee table. A fit of coughing seized him. When it passed, he groaned and rested his head against the arm of the couch. His head ached. Maybe he was getting sick. He shut his eyes, telling himself he only needed to rest his eyes.

Within minutes, he was asleep.


End file.
